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This Can’t be Windows?!?

Give Windows the ultimate visual makeover - (downloads here!)

Windows hasn’t really changed the way it looks for years. Windows 2000 and Windows XP have improved things a bit but apart from the normal Windows Themes, the amount of customisation available has been minimal.

When I first installed Windows XP, I played with the themes functions too see what it could do. A quick search of the web revealed some amazing looking themes so I downloaded a few and installed them. They looked like normal Windows themes i.e. rather bland so something was either broken on my system or I was missing something. Time to do some digging.

DLL Hell?

The first thing I discovered was that unless you patched a particular system DLL called uxtheme.dll, you couldn’t really get the most out of these funky themes that were available to download. They would partially work but you’d still be limited to the basic Windows ‘classic’ look as uxtheme.dll stopped any unsigned/checksummed themes from working properly.

Happily this is reasonably easy to fix. Go to www.tgtsoft.com  and look at what is on offer. You can either go for StyleXP which is simple to install and adds a few ease-of-use features for $19.95 or instead go for the free DLL patch called UXTheme. Being a cheapskate I went for the latter.

Installing it is not for the faint hearted so unless you’re confident in the following process, go for the $19.95 version. You need to circumvent Windows XP’s built in file protection system to persuade the system to allow you to replace the dll file via a process of patching the dll, renaming files, and booting to safe mode and back. The full details are provided with the patch and are easy to follow if a little convoluted.

The XP desktop ‘Longhorn’ Theme

 Once done, you’ll find that Windows XP suddenly looks rather fantastic when you install any of the hundreds of themes to be found around the web. A good place to start is www.themexp.org  which includes how-to’s as well as a great many themes to try. Not only do these themes change the entire look, they also make the desktop behave differently such as having the minimise/maximise buttons invisible until you put your mouse over the right place.

There are also tools available from these sites to create your own themes should the existing ones not meet your tastes.

Not Using Windows XP?

Outlook never looked this good before

What if you are still running an earlier version of Windows such as 98 or Me? You can still have some impressive and funky looking themes via a nifty tool called WindowBlinds. You can download the program from www.windowblinds.net . There you can find a full-blown object desktop for $49.95 which has all sorts of nice things in it or just WindowBlinds 3 for $19.95. For your Windows makeover you only need the WindowBlinds program. The download version is in fact complete so the $19.95 fee is based on trust but you should be aware that if too many people download but do not pay, they will stop making it available in this way. Do the right thing. That said, paying does buy you some extra tweaks and bits to fiddle with.

WindowBlinds gives you a totally new looking desktop by replacing Windows’ screen drawing code and even includes features like semi-transparent Explorer folders. There are hundreds of compatible Themes to download and try. The best place to start for these is www.wincustomize.com . Like the XP option, you can also create your own using various downloadable tools.

The Task bar goes upmarket

 One thing to note though is that some programs handle their own screen drawing and these will be unaffected by WindowBlinds although some of these often have their own ‘skins’ available to match them up with.

Yes those fish are animated!

 Unlike the standard Windows XP themes outlined above, WindowBlinds offers additional features such as the ability to embed MP3 players inside Window borders. XP users will be glad to hear there is also an XP version of WindowBlinds should they fancy such things.

Conclusion

The boring old Windows interface has had its day. Whether you’re on XP or an older version, there are ways to make the Windows interface look far sexier and with so many pre-designed themes already out there you ought to find something that appeals.